Teapot spout cleaner



Jan. 2, 1968 E. G. EDWARDS TEAPOT SPOUT CLEANER Filed March L, 1966 Elizabe fh 6. Edwards INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,360,818 TEAPOT SPOUT CLEANER Elizabeth G.Edwards, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. (1408 E. Douglas Ave, Nashville, Tenn. 37206)Filed Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 531,923 8 Claims. (Cl. -10416) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE The above cleaner is unique in that it can be used toeffectually swab and clean the interior surfaces of a teapot spout aswell as the orifices of the flow retarding strainer at the inlet end ofthe spout. The wiper sleeve is closed at the leading end and open at itstrailing end. A suitably bendable noncorrodible stiffener wire is fittedtelescopingly in the sleeve with its forward end in thrust engagementwith the closed end of the sleeve. The rearward end has a finger-gripand an anchoring hook for attachment and retention of the trailing endof the sleeve.

This invention relates to a manually manipulatable household implementwhich is expressly designed and uniquely adapted to effectively andsatisfactorily brush and clean the interior pouring surfaces of a teapotspout and, equally important, the orifices of the built-in flow checkstrainer located at the intake end of the spout.

Persons conversant with the art to which the invention relates are awarethat many and various special purpose brushing and scrubbing implementshave been devised to cope with tedious and difiicult-of-access cleaningneeds. Apparently, however, no special purpose hand implement has beenheretofore perfected to solve the problem of cleansing the spout andcompanion strainer of the conventional teapot. Accordingly, it is theobjective of the present invention to provide a simple, practical andcommerciable implement which can be readily and reliably used toproperly handle the desired spout cleaning task.

To the ends desired the implement herein disclosed is structurally andfunctionally adequate and is characterized by two component parts matedand orientated for efficient coordinating usage.

Briefly, the improved implement comprises an elongated slender fibroussleeve-like flexible Wiper having the capability of brushing andcleaning the vulnerable pouring surfaces of the spout and also theorifices of the complemental built-in strainer located at the junctionalintake end of said spout, said Wiper being of a length greater than thelength of the spout and of a cross-sectional dimension to probe into thestrainers orifices, and insertable and removable wiper distending, shapeimparting, and shape-sustaining stiffener means fitted telescopingly andfunctionally into said wiper, said stiffener means being conforminglybendable to coincide with the contour of said spout but amply rigid towithstand and properly respond to end thrust pressure without bucklingduring the push-pull probing, handling and cleaning steps resorted to bythe user.

More specifically, the wiper comprises a sleeve which is closed at itsleading end and wholly open at its outward or trailing end. It ispreferably, though not necessarily, made of coarse washable pliant nylonor the like which is amply strong and durable to achieve good brushing,scraping and cleansing results. This sleeve functions to accommodate aninsertable and removable tautening and shape-imparting stiffener, moreparticularly, a single length of non-corrodible Wire. This end thrustwire is suitably responsively bendable and comfortable to carry out thetask at hand and has its leading end abutting the closed end of thewiper, the trailing end projecting through and beyond the open end ofsaid wiper and provided with 3,360,818 Patented Jan. 2, 1968 afingergripping ring and also with an outstanding anchoring hook forattachment thereto of the open end portion of said wiper.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which;

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective showing the intake end of the spoutbroken away and appearing in section to expose the built-in perforatedstrainer and wherein the improved insertable and removable spoutcleaning implement is shown in place and in use;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view on an enlarged scale of the implement byitself ready for use;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in section and elevation emphasizing themanner in which the lip at the open end of the wiper is detachablyconnectible with the anchoring hook; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-section on the line 44 of FIGURE 2.

With reference to FIG. 1, it will be evident that the teapot isconventional and is denoted by the numeral 6 and comprises the usual legsupported bulbous body 8 provided on one side with a handle 10, providedon the opposite side with an outstanding pouring spout 12 and having anattachable and detachable lid or cover 14. The usual disk-like built-inor integral flow-restraining strainer is denoted at 16 and is providedwith the customary ports or orifices 18. The strainer 16 is accordinglylocated in alignment with the attached or integral end 20 of the spout.The distal or outer end of the spout is denoted at 22. The improvedreadily insertable and removable brushing, scrubbing and cleaningimplement is made up of two companion components or parts; namely anelongated sleeve-like wiper 24 and an insertable and removableshape-imparting and tautening stiffener 26. The sleeve 24 is ofelongated tubular form and customarily is circular in cross-section asshown in FIG. 4. This part may be made of any appropriate fibrousmaterial which lends itself practical for the intended purposes. Whilevarious types of cloth and fabric have been experimented with, it hasbeen found that coarse pliant nylon net well serves thefriction-scrubbing and cleaning purposes desired. It will be noted thatthe leading or inward end of the sleeve is tapered and closed to providea piloting tip 28. The trailing or outer end of the sleeve is open asdenoted at 30 and may be obliquely cut across at the approximate anglesuggested in FIG. 3.

The stiffening member or stiffener which tautens the sleeve comprises asingle length of appropriately bendable, non-corrodible wire 32. Thelength of the wire is greater than the length of the receptacle portionof the sleeve and the trailing end portion projects through and beyondthe open end 30 of the sleeve. The leading end portion of the wire issuch that it is seated and pocketed in the pointed piloting tip 28 inthe manner suggested in FIG. 2. The trailing or outer end portion of thewire is bent upon itself and fashioned into a ring-like fingergrip 34which may be conveniently and acceptably used in the manner illustratedin FIG. 1. The free end portion of the wire is bent upon itself andfashioned into coils 36 which encircle the adjacent shank portion of thewire 32. The terminal end portion is directed radially and bent as at 38and again bent into general parallelism with the coil at 40 to providean anchoring hook to which the lip 31 is detachably connectible. FIG. 3serves to show the construction and arrangement of the anchoring hookand (also in full and dotted lines) the manner in which the sleeve isattached and detached.

In practice it will be evident that the shank of the wire is fittedtelescopingly into the sleeve and is therefore fully covered by thesleeve. This portion of the wire though stiff is nevertheless bendableto permit the desired end thrust action to be attained while at the sametime permitting the shank to conform to the curvature of the spout. Withthe two parts 24 and 26 assembled, it will be seen that the implement ispassed downwardly through the spout and is first manipulated so as tobrush and clean interior surfaces of the spout. The tip or end portioncan be pushed into any selected one of the orifices 18 to brush andclean the outwardly facing side of the strainer 16. For further cleaningresults, the lid or cover 14 i removed and the implement is theninserted (not shown) into the hollow portion of the pot and the tip 28in lined up with orifices 18 and is pushed and pulled or otherwisemanipulated to effectively clean all of the orifices. It follows thatwith this simple, practical and economical implement the user is able tosatisfactorily brush and clean the liquid contacting surfaces of thespout and strainer singly and collectively.

In actual practice the manufacturer will no doubt supply a plurality ofattachable and detachable cleaning sleeves which can be made of varyingwashable materials to enable the user to experiment with and achieve thebest end results possible.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A manually manipulatable household implement of the class describedcomprising, in combination, an elongated slender fibrous sleeve-likeflexible wiper having the capability of brushing and cleaning thevulnerable pouring surfaces of a teapot and orifices of the complementalbuilt-in strainer located at the junctional intake end of said spout,said wiper being of a length greater than the length of the spout and ofa cross-sectional dimension to probe into the strainers orifices, andinsertable and removable wiper distending, shape imparting, and shapesustaining stiffener means fitted telescopingly and functionally intosaid wiper, said stiffener means being conformingly bendable to coincidewith the contour of said spout but amply rigid to withstand and properlyrespond to end thrust pressure without buckling during the push-pullprobing, handling and cleaning steps resorted to by the user, said wiperbeing closed at its leading end and open at its trailing end, saidleading end being intact, rupture resisting and capable of withstandingthe end thrust pressure of said stiffener means and being reduced incrosssection to provide a pointed piloting tip adapted to readilyselectively align itself with any one of the aforementioned orifices foreffective probing and cleaning action.

2. The implement defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein saidwiper is made of fairly coarse but pliant nylon net having abrasiveproperties capable of scraping and scrubbing hard-to-remove residualdeposits and stains.

3. The implement defined in and according to claim 1, and wherein saidstiffener means comprises a core-like non-corrodible wire of a lengthgreater than the length of said wiper, the leading end of said wirebeing removably seated and pocketed in said pointed tip, the trailingend extending beyond the open trailing end of the wiper and terminatingin an accessible easy-to-use fingergrip.

4. The implement set forth and according to claim 3, and wherein theterminal trailing end portion of said wire is provided with means fordetachably connecting the adjacent open-ended portion of the wiperthereto in a manner to retain the wiper in a tautened functioningcondition.

5. The implement defined in and according to claim 4, and wherein saidmeans comprises a lateral outstanding hook having a bill portion overwhich an end of said open-ended portion is retentively but releasablyhooked.

6. A teapot spout cleaning implement comprising a length of bendablewire constituting and providing a corelike probing member and havingleading and trailing ends, said trailing end being bent upon itself andfashioned into a ring-like fingergrip, a free end portion of the wirebeing coiled around the wire proper and formed into a radial attachingand retaining hook, and a fibrous cover sleeved lengthwise over saidmember and having a terminal trailing end detachably connected with saidhook.

'7. The implement according to claim 6, and wherein said cover comprisesa tough nylon net sleeve encasing said probing member, said sleeve beingclosed at its leading end and open at its trailing end.

8. A manually manipulatable household implement of the class describedcomprising, in combination, an elongated slender sleeve-like flexiblewiper closed at its leading end and open at its trailing end and made ofcoarse but pliant nylon net, and an insertable and removable wipertautening and shape-sustaining core-like stiffener wire extendingtelescopingly into said wiper, said wire being bendable and conformableto the task at hand and having its leading end abutting the closed endof the wiper, the trailing end projecting through and beyond the openend of said wiper and provided with a fingergripping ring and also withan outstanding anchoring hook for attachment thereto of the open endportion of said wiper.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,062,065 11/1936 Miley 15 21oCHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

E. L. ROBERTS, Examiner.

